Infectious as “wet markets” are, U.S. slaughterhouse conditions appear to be much worse WATERLOO & SIOUX CITY, Iowa; SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota––COVID-19 has infected hundreds of U.S. slaughterhouse workers, who may have spread the pandemic disease to whole cities, USA Today reported late on April 22, 2020. The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, […]
USDA Slaughterhouse Deregulation: Pigs in Peril
Guest column by Gail A. Eisnitz In December 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will implement its “modernization” plan for the slaughter of pigs by turning over key inspection duties to the very industry it regulates. While current regulations allow slaughterhouses to kill a staggering 1,106 pigs per hour – or one pig every three […]
Are kosher & halal slaughter bans anti-Semitic & Islamophobic?
Animal advocacy, religious teaching, & cultural insecurity collide in Belgium BRUSSELS, Belgium––Is Belgium moving rapidly to ban slaughter without pre-stunning out of concern for animals, or are prohibitions of the traditional kosher and halal slaughter methods rooted in latent anti-Semitism and Islamophobia? Slaughter without pre-stunning becomes illegal Whatever the political truth is, legal reality […]
Timothy J. Walker, 73, exposed slaughterhouse cruelty
by Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator, Humane Farming Association Timothy J. Walker, 73, died on September 10, 2018 in Naples, Florida, a little known hero for animals sent to slaughter. After graduating from St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis, Walker at age 17 joined his two first cousins in the U.S. Navy. Disaster relief Initially stationed […]
Live animal markets in New York City: a cut-throat business at best
Customs change with waves of immigration NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.––Escaping the Iranian Revolution with her parents at age 6, artist Sara Rahbar as an adult has produced an internationally recognized portfolio on themes often involving human and animal suffering. Yet Rahbar found herself wholly unprepared for the misery she met close to hand on […]
Kaporos: chicken soup for the soulless?
UPDATE: Opponents of Kaporos will on September 28, 2017 hold a candlelight vigil in Borough Park, Brooklyn, co-hosted by the Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund, Their Turn, NYCLASS, Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, New York Farm Animal Save, New York Animal Defenders, and the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos, a project of United Poultry Concerns. […]
Trump triumph: zapping USDA web site zapped “puppy mill” law too
Maryland legislature & SAEN try to undo some of the damage BALTIMORE, CINCINNATI––Can a federal agency nullify state law just by taking down a web site? While proposing budget cuts that would hamper animal-related law enforcement under every federal agency with relevant jurisdiction, the Donald Trump administration on February 17, 2017 at least temporarily […]
Who Stole My Religion?
Revitalizing Judaism and applying Jewish values to help heal our imperiled planet by Richard H. Schwartz with Rabbi Yonassan Gershom and Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz Reviewed by Barbara Kay Richard Schwartz, principal author of Who Stole My Religion?, is a rather odd polemical duck. He has two great passions in life: Judaism and environmentalism, […]
“Can’t fix wild horses? Kill ’em,” say BLM advisors
Recommendation to kill horses came after advocates blocked multiple fertility control proposals Part II of a two-part series. See also: Is BLM advisory board threat to kill 45,000 mustangs a wild bet? The BLM National Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board frustratedly recommended that the 45,000 horses in holding facilities be killed only hours after […]
Is BLM advisory board threat to kill 45,000 mustangs a wild bet?
Who holds the chips after showdown at the Stockmen’s Hotel & Casino? Part I of a two-part series. See also: “Can’t fix wild horses? Kill ’em,” say BLM advisors ELKO, Nevada––Will the Bureau of Land Management really kill all 45,000 wild horses now in off-range holding facilities, as recommended on September 9, 2016 by […]